Switching device for cable railways



(No Model.) Sheets-Sheet 1. H. ROOT. SWITCHING DEVICE FOR CABLERAILWAYS.

Patented Dec. 30, 188 4.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. ROOT. SWITCHING DEVICE FOR GABLERAILWAYS. No. 309,983.

P atented Dec. 30, 1884.

N. PETERS. PholoMhogmy-har, Washingmn. n. a

IINITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

HENRY ROOT, OF SANFBANCISGO, CALIFORNIA.

SWITCHING DEVICE FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,983, dated December30,1884.

Application filed JulylG, 1884. (No model.)

0 (LZZ whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HENRY Roor, of San Francisco, in the county of SanFrancisco and State of California, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Switching Devices for Cable Railways; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same.

lWIyinvention relates to certain improvements in cable railways; and itconsists in means for moving the slot-irons in unison with theswitch-rails where a branch line departs from the main line, and meansfor elevating the traveling cable into the grip.

- In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view of the device bywhich the cable is raised from its pulley to the grip. Fig. 2 is atransverse section of part of the street, tube, rails, slot-irons, andswitch mechanism. Fig. 3is a plan of the same.

In some cases,where a branch road joins the main one, so that the carsfrom the branch continue their course upon the main line, or arriving onthe main line, at the junction the grip must leave the main cable andtake the branch one, it is necessary to employ a permanent mechanismforming a part of the road, to make the slot continuous either with themain line or with the branch simultaneously with the movement of theswitch-rails. In order to do this a lever, D, is fixed to a horizontalshaft, D, just below the surface of the roadway at one side of thetrack. This shaft has two lever-arms secured to it-one at each end. Theshort one, E, has a rod, F, connecting it with a tongue, G, of theswitch-rail by means of a screw-pin, H, which enters a lug,

I, projecting below the rail, and when the lever D is raised up from itsordinary horizontal position the tongue G will be pushed over, so as toguide the wheels of the car from the main upon the side track.

At the point where the rod F connects with the screw-pin H it alsoconnects with the upper end of a lever, J, which is fulcrumed, as shown,about the center, and the lower end of this lever is connected by a rod,K, with the frame L, which is mounted to slide transversely across thetube, and will by this lever be moved in an opposite direction from theswitch-rail.

to the width of the slot beneath which they lie. The ends farthest fromthe tongue M are permanently pivoted, as shown at P, and the centralportion of the bars are pinned to the transversely-sliding frame L. Thefree ends of the parallel bars extend to or beneath the tongue M, and,when the leverD is lifted, the movement thus communicated to the frame Land the bars 0 moves them from a line parallel with the main track intoa line parallel with the side track, so that when the grip approaches itwill be guided into the branch slot at the same instant when the wheelsare guided upon the rails of the branch line. The second lever-arm, Q,which projects downward from the shaft D, is connected by a rod, R, witha crank-arm, S, fixed to a shaft, I,which extends along the tube at oneside of the line in which the cable travels. Upon the opposite end ofthis shaft is an arm, U, having a roller, V, upon it. When the lever Dlies flat and the parts are all in position to allow the car to passupon the main line, this roller is held upright in the tube; but when acar approaches which is to pass upon the branch line the lever D islifted up, the switch-rail tongue G and the supplemental slot-irons Omove, so as to guide the wheels and grip to the branch line. The maincable is depressed horizontal position, and thus depresses the cablebelow the line of the grip. The gripman lets go of the cable at anindicated point before reaching the switch, and the car runs by its ownmomentum upon the branch line, the grip being allowed to cross the cableat the depressed point. \Vhen the car has reached a point where it isnecessary to pick up the cable of the branch line after the car leavesthe main line, or the cable of the main line after the car has reachedthe main line from the branch one, the cable must be raised from thebearing-pulleys upon which it runs to the level of the grip, whichtravels high enough to clear the pulleys. cable is directed into theopened jaws of the This is done and the grip by a conical pulley, \V,revolving loosely upon an arm, X, which has one end journaled at oneside by a shaft, Y, parallel with the rope. The other end has a chainwhich passes up through a hole in the cover Z in the top of the tube,and has a ring or handle by which it can be pulled up. lhis brings thepulley in contact with the cable, raises the latter until it slides offthe tapering end of the pulley into the grip -j aws.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A switch andsafety device consisting of a movable tongue for guiding the carwhcelsupon a branch line, a pair of parallel tongues pivoted so as to extendalong upon each side of the 1nain-tube slot, with the free ends at ornear the junction of the main and branch slots, and mechanism,substantially as described, operated by a single lever, by which theslot and rail-tongues are caused to move in unison, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a cable railway, a device for raising and for pressing the cableto one side at the journaled to stand parallel with the cable, an

arm projecting at right angles from said shaft, with a roller-upon theend thereof, and meclr anism, substantially as described, by which theshaft may be turned so that the arm will depress the cable or be turnedup out of the way, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY ROOT. \Vitnesses:

F. L. MIDDLETON, L. G. YOUNG.

